Media management systems are becoming increasingly popular among consumers of entertainment media who need assistance in managing their ever-growing collections of CD's, DVD's, MP3 files and media-playing equipment. Media management systems interface with a variety of sources of media. For example, a media management system may receive media from different CD-changers, different DVD-changers, the Internet, a CD player, a DVD player, a personal computer and a hard disk drive. Media management systems also interface with a variety of media players. For example, the same media management system may play media on a monitor, a television, and on different media receivers. Media management systems are also typically able to display information about the media available on the connected sources of media on a user interface. The user interface allows the user to communicate instructions to play selected pieces of media.
Developers of media management systems aim to interface with as wide a variety of media sources as possible. Providing such variety however is complicated and expensive. Media sources use a wide variety of interfaces. To support different interfaces, media management systems must add different plugs or connectors to the device. Each connector added to the media management system increases the cost of the device. Each added connector also increases the likelihood of confusing the consumer by forcing the consumer to cope with still more connectors.
Connectors that provide remote control over the media source equipment connected to the media management system are particularly problematic. A media management system would advantageously be able to control and receive media from disc changers (CD or DVD changers) made by different manufacturers. Different manufacturers use different protocols and techniques for controlling their disc changers remotely. A SONY brand disc changer typically uses an S-Link interface to receive control signals from the media management system. A KENWOOD brand disc changer on the other hand may not have a S-Link interface and may therefore require an Infrared (IR) remote control interface via a direct wire or attached IR LED flasher commonly referred to as a DVD or CD control port. A PIONEER brand disc changer may use an IR remote control interface either direct wire or attached IR LED flasher, but it may use a different signal protocol than that of another manufacturer.
While the interfaces may be similar in that all use IR or protocols similar to IR protocols, the electrical differences are so great that there is insufficient overlap to use one connector for all. In order to support disc changers from different manufacturers, the media management system would have to provide a separate hardware interface for each type of device.
Based on the foregoing, a need exists for control interfaces that work with a variety of different media sources or other equipment that uses remote control capabilities.